Cryopreservation: Q&A

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The process of storing a human body at ultra-low temperatures in the hope that it can be preserved until advances in medical science make it possible to revive the person.

Adherents believe that clinical death is not the same as information-theoretic death, the loss of information in the brain that makes recovery of the original person impossible.

One option is to cut off the head to preserve only the brain, rather than the entire body.

While the process is commonly referred to as “freezing”, it is crucial that cells are not literally frozen, as ice crystals will invariably kill them.

Cryopreservation should begin within minutes of cardiac arrest

Cryopreservation has been going since the 1960sCredit:
Telegraph

Is it legal?

Yes, but the current law is “a bit of a vacuum”, according to Professor Emily Jackson, expert in medical law and ethics at the London School of Economics.

This reflects the judgment of Mr Justice Jackson in the case of JS, which found cryopreservation was not dealt with by the criminal law, and that it was not regulated by the Human Tissue Act 2004. “It is thought that the present situation was not contemplated when the legislation was passed,” he said.

Prof Jackson questioned whether the law would catch up with the science given the “vanishingly small” number of people who opt for the process.

Last month’s judgment sets no precedent forcing hospitals to facilitate cryopreservation in future.

How much does it cost?

The family of JS have paid approximately £37,000 for the initial cryonics procedure, transport and long-term storage in the US.

However, packages can cost up to £200,000, which typically include undertakings to carry out specific research on the individual body.

Who does it?

Two companies in the US offer long-term cryopreservation: Alcor Life Extension Foundation in Arizona, and the Cryonics Institute in Michigan. KrioRus, located near Moscow, is thought to be the only facility of its type in Eurasia.

How commonly is it used?

It is thought that around 2,000 people around the world are currently signed up for cryonic preservation.

Approximately 200 have been frozen upon death.

Who has used it and who plans to?

The first person to be cryonically frozen was James Bedford, a US psychology professor, in 1967. His remains are at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation.

Simon Cowell announced in 2009 that he intended to be “frozen” after his death. “Medical science is bound to work out a way of bringing us back to life in the next century or so, and I want to be around when they do,” he said.

Contrary to popular myth, Walt Disney was not cryonically preserved. The cartoon creator had expressed an interest in the process, but never formalised it in writing. He was cremated two days after his death from lung cancer in 1966.

Why embryos but not bodies?

Cryopreservation has been hugely successful in storing tiny amounts of human tissue, such as blood cells, sperm and embryos. To survive ultra-low temperature storage, cells must be drained of water, but the cooling rate has to be closely controlled.

The equipment has not yet been designed to adequately control the dehydrating and cooling process in larger tissue structures. Uncontrolled dehydration is lethal to cells.

What happens if the company goes bust?

Some of the early pioneers did exactly that and around 20 bodies had to be buried.

However, the current US companies offering long-term cryopreservation have been trading successfully since the 1970s, and have a portfolio of services, including preserving embryos.

Can it be included on insurance?

Cryopreservation is included in a number of US life insurance schemes.

What are the ethics?

Hospitals have a duty to make facilities available for patient care, so any activity which hinders this could present NHS staff with an ethical dilemma.

They would also be very uncomfortable to be seen to be promoting a process which does not have the backing of scientific opinion,” according to Prof Jackson.

What do the religions think about it?

While the Catholic Church has not spoken formally about cryopreservation, the process is likely to contradict doctrine, said Dr David Jones, director of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, which has links to the church. “I think it’s a substitute of a belief in the afterlife, thinking of medicine as a means of immortality,” he said.

Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said cryopreservation also conflicts with Muslim theology, which believes the body is simply a “vehicle for the soul”, which is resurrected into a perfect body in the afterlife. He added that the Koran demands that bodies must be “returned to the Earth”.

Could it ever work?

Mainstream scientific opinion is sceptical, to say the least.

A major staging post would be to successfully cryopreserve a human organ, such as a kidney, says Professor Barry Fuller, from University College London. Even that, however, is currently impossible.

Why are we not allowed to know who JS is?

The court initially place a blanket ban on any reporting about the case, to last until one month after the patient’s death. It also decided the patient had a right to confidentiality and could not be identified even after death.